“They Take Our Jobs!”: And 20 Other Myths about Immigration

A Note on TerminologyIntroduction, 2018Introduction, 2007PART ONE: IMMIGRANTS AND THE ECONOMYMyth 1. Immigrants take American jobsMyth 2. Immigrants compete with low-skilled workers and drive down wagesMyth 3. Unions oppose immigration because it harms the working classMyth 4. Immigrants don’t pay taxesMyth 5. Immigrants are a drain on the economyMyth 6. Immigrants send most of what they earn out of the country in the form of remittancesPART TWO: IMMIGRANTS AND THE LAWMyth 7. The rules apply to everyone, so new immigrants need to follow them just as immigrants in the past didMyth 8. The country is being overrun by illegal immigrantsMyth 9. The United States has a generous refugee policyPART THREE: IMMIGRATION AND RACEMyth 10. The United States is a melting pot that has always welcomed immigrants from all over the worldMyth 11. Since we are all the descendants of immigrants here, we all start on equal footingMyth 12. Today’s immigrants threaten the national culture because they are not assimilatingMyth 13. Today’s immigrants are not learning English, and bilingual education just adds to the problemPART FOUR: HOW HAVE US POLICIES CREATED IMMIGRATION?Myth 14. Immigrants only come here because they want to enjoy our higher standard of livingCase Study: The PhilippinesPART FIVE: THE DEBATE AT THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIUMMyth 15. The American public opposes immigration, and the debate in Congress reflects thatMyth 16. The overwhelming victory of Proposition 187 in California shows that the public opposes immigrationMyth 17. Immigration is a problemMyth 18. Countries need to control who goes in and outMyth 19. We need to protect our borders to prevent criminals and terrorists from entering the countryMyth 20. If people break our laws by immigrating illegally, they are criminals and should be deportedMyth 21. The problems this book raises are so huge that there’s nothing we can do about themEpilogueTimelineAcknowledgmentsNotes